“We need to bring the fun back to reading, and rolling up with a book bike might be a way to do that.”

In The Story of Buffalo BookBike from PechaKucha Buffalo vol. 17, Founder of Buffalo BookBike in Buffalo, NY, Amy Ozay, talks about her love of Buffalo, books, and bikes. Taking inspiration from similar programs in other cities, she launched Buffalo BookBike in 2015, which gives free books to the children of Buffalo in parks and playgrounds throughout the summer months. The BookBike has given away over 1,000 books to date, with the hopes of slowing down the summer slide. Her dream is to increase the reach of the BookBike, foster more collaboration between local literacy organizations, and help convert Buffalo parks to open air libraries in the future. As Cicero wrote, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

VIEW SIMILAR PRESENTATIONS

Leah Costello is founder of the Bon Mot Book Club, which brings community leaders and authoer together to share and exchange ideas. In her presentation, Leah explains how her passion for books and reading helped her become engaged in the socio-political world.

The crisis in Syria has been ongoing for about three years, leaving defenseless victims most affected. Children are unable to go to school as well as enduring major psychological trauma and a loss of any sense of possession. Shada El Sayed introduces a program that addresses these issues by giving them books. A network of illustrators and authors, Books for Syria creates books for children to reinstill hope back into their lives.

Josephine Caramillo shares her enthusiasm for story time as education and entertainment, empowering children with knowledge and confidence to be their own superheroes through story time. As illustrated by her programs, a library can provide for more than the development of a love of books and literacy, it can provide for the development of children’s motor skills, social skills and more.

"How do we start thinking about heat waves and why are heat waves so important?"

In How One Man on a 75-Pound Bicycle Took a City's Temperature from PechaKucha Buffalo Vol. 16, architect and University at Buffalo Professor, Nicholas B. Rajkovich describes the design of a bicycle-based weather station used to find the “hot spots” of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Every year in the United States, more people die from heat waves than any other type of natural disaster. Extreme heat events are expected to increase in the future due to climate change. Collecting a fine scale of microclimatic data can help to determine how physical characteristics contribute to human exposure to ground and air temperatures. These data also suggest how urban design strategies can reduce the impacts of the urban heat island effect. However, microclimate measurement poses substantial challenges. Rajkovich’s work investigates the intersection of energy efficient buildings, renewable energy, and climate change resilience.

Can the simple act of reading change lives? Sarah Hutchings, founder of Collected Works, a not-for-profit organisation based in Brighton, UK, believes in the power of books. Her team runs 'City Reads' an annual city-wide reading club festival. In her first ever PechaKucha Sarah shares her belief in books and people.